From June 11, 1996 - Washington, DC, USA
Minor traffic stops can be used as justification for detaining motorists and searching their vehicles for drugs, ruled the Supreme Court in an unanimous decision. Critics argue that the ruling will encourage police to use phony pretexts to invade the privacy of motorists -- particularly minorities -- while proponents maintain that it provides law enforcement with an additional weapon to combat illicit drugs.
And from Federal Appeals Court Rules Traffic Stop Drug Dog Search Illegal 12/5/03
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that police may not detain motorists until a drug-sniffing dog arrives unless they have a reasonable suspicion that some crime has been committed. The ruling came in the case of Jody James Boyce, a New Jersey man who was pulled over for a traffic violation on I-95 in Georgia in 2001, issued a warning ticket by Officer David Edwards, but then detained until a drug dog could arrive after he refused to consent to a vehicle search. The drug dog signaled that drugs were present, police recovered 10,000 ecstasy tablets and two large containers of marijuana, and Boyce was subsequently convicted of possession with intent to distribute the drugs and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
First you say you will, then you won't.
First you say you do, then you don't.
You're driving, me out of my mind.
